In Memory of Rachel Corrie1979-2003

Rachel Corrie 1979-2003

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie. Rachel died March 16, 2003 in Najar Hospital in Gaza. She died across the world from her home and family, defending a home in Rafah Refugee camp (near the border of Gaza and Egypt) from being razed by Israeli bulldozers.

After keeping the bulldozers away for more than two hours, she was standing on a pile of Earth armed with nothing but a red jacket, a bull-horn, and her own courage when the earth gave way to the bulldozer blade. The bulldozer drove on regardless, and then reversed to back over her again. She was rushed to the hospital, where she quickly succumbed to her injuries.1

In a political blog such as this, there may be a time to hash over histories of treaties, threats, and tit-for-tat analyses. An American Christian blog such as this is certainly an appropriate venue to discuss the appropriateness of political and theological support for the Israeli Government. But today is not that day, and this is not that post.

I’d like simply to honor the memory of Rachel Corrie, a 23 year-old American student with enough respect for humanity not to look away from the unjust and broken parts of our world and pretend they’re not there. She didn’t hide behind politics – gather signatures or write her congressman. She didn’t learn the mature adult pat answers or easy theologies to excuse and dismiss the horrors she saw. Rachel, a young girl in the prime of her life, moved in with her sister to save up her money to fly across the world and stand in front of guns and bulldozers. She locked arms with an international group of volunteer non-violent activists known as the International Solidarity Movement.

The International Solidarity Movement, as well as other non-violent groups, such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, bravely and literally stand between would-be victims and those who would threaten them. They rely on the (generally true) belief that killing or imprisoning foreign citizens, such as Americans, is far more politically hazardous than killing or imprisoning Palestinians in the area. Rachel was willing to offer what protection her own body could grant to those who needed it. Her life and legacy have inspired people around the world to follow her lead. Even in her death, she has continued to bring light to the injustices she dared to stand against.

I never knew Rachel. I have no first-hand insight into her life, her tragic death, or the controversy that followed. But it’s not my story, and Rachel doesn’t need my words. She tells her own story quite well in emails her parents published posthumously.

February 27, 2003

…This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is not at all what I asked for when I came into this world. This is not at all what the people here asked for when they came into this world. This is not the world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you decided to have me. This is not what I meant when I looked at Capital Lake and said: “This is the wide world and I’m coming to it.” I did not mean that I was coming into a world where I could live a comfortable life and possibly, with no effort at all, exist in complete unawareness of my participation in genocide.

Finally, I came across this video while working on this article. This was Rachel, in fifth grade delivering an articulate and passionate speech on hunger. Hers was clearly a life marked by love and compassion in action.

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